Flexibility for Colleges Affected by Data Tool Removal

"The Department of Education announced Monday that it would give added flexibility for colleges after the removal of a data retrieval tool created to simplify the financial aid process," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"Student aid groups called for the tool to be restored as quickly as possible and asked in the meantime that the department take steps to provide relief to students affected by its removal. The department's announcement Monday implements one of the specific steps requested by those student groups. But it didn't address others, including a request that the department reconsider its criteria for verification checks of student income information.

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators found in a recent poll of members that more than a quarter of institutions has seen an increase in verification checks as a result of the data retrieval tool's removal. And 81 percent of respondents said the verification process had taken longer since the outage."

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